Compressed air deep well pump



J. E. LAACY coMPnEssED AIR @EEP WELL .MMP

0er. v25, A193.3.

Filed sem.. i510, 1956V .2 shet-s-sneet 1 0.0 U U U Oct. 25, 1938. J.- E. LACY 2,134,465 I CMDDFESSED AR DEEPAWELL PUMP Filed septl. so. 193e 2 shee'tssneet 2 i l j ya 20/ I A l 35 96 3 l l L 7/95 Invenor. 42

39 37 n Hi ioz'neys.

` James E. Lac

Patented Oct. 25, 1938 PATENT GFFICE.

COMPRESSD AIR DEEP WELL PUMP James E. Lacy, Los Angeles, Calif., assigner of one-half to Richard H. Lacy, San Marino,

Calif.

Application September 30, 1936, Serial No. 103,338

. '7 Claims.

My invention relates to a deep Well pump such as a pump suitable for pumping oilxfrom bored wells ,or for pumping water or water with minerals in solution fromv considerable depths fbelow the surface of the earth.

An object and feature of my invention is to use compressed air as the motive force for pumping the oil or other liquid and in which the pump assembly is located at the desired depth in the well for receiving the oil or other liquid, which liquid is positively elevated by a plunger pump, the .plunger being operated by an air engine having a cylinder and a piston. An advantage of my construction is that the only moving partsl are the piston of the air motor and the plunger of the oil pump together with the actuation of the control valves. Hence there are no long reciprocating partssuch as the sucker rods in the ordinary pumps leadingl down into' the well. Another generalobject 'and feature of my invention is pumping the oil or other liquid from deep'wells' in stages. That is, the lowermost pump is located at the bottom of the well which pumps and thus positively elevates the oil to a higher elevation-where it flows into a sealed-off chamber in the well in which the next higher pump is located, the oil being pumped upwardly through a string of oil pipe. Thus by having a succession of pumps.. eachw of which is operated by compressed air, the oil maybe elevatedby stages from the bottom to the top of the well. A further feature of my invention resides in using separate air conduits or pipes connecting from vthe top of the well and an air compressor plant to the individual pumps. Thus by using a proper timing arrangement the pumps can be operated.

in a sequence, hence as only a comparatively small amount of compressed air is required for any one pump, it is not necessary to have a very large Aor expensive compressor plant, although of course it is desirable to use the air lat high pressure in the individual pumps. 1

Another object and feature of my invention is in arranging the pumps and their construction suitable for use in a well in which the casing tapers in stages from the top to the bottom of the well, being smallest at the bottom. Hence as it is desirable to have as large a diameter oil pipe as possible, the lowermost pump may have the pump plunger and the piston of the air motor or engine substantially the full diameter of the oil pipe or tube. In this case the cylinder in which the piston operates for the air engine also functions as a cylinder for use in pumping the oil. In fact, the piston may function bothv (Cl. 10S-46) as the piston for the compressedair engine and as the plunger fc r the oil pump.

Another detail feature of my invention is in controlling the air valves by a cam which positively rotates the valves a suicient amount to open the air valve for admitting air to the air engine on the power stroke and giving a reverse motion for exhaust.- The cam for operating the rotary valve is preferably actuated by a recipro-` eating cross-head having a cam mounted there- 10 o`n, which cross-head is positively depressed by the weight of oil above the pump. -To effect this operation a small duct communicates with the oil in the oil tubing above the pump and leads` to a small diameter but elongated cylinder having a piston with a connecting rod therein, the rod operating the cross-head. Another feature of my invention relates to a construction of the air engine by providing a plurality of comparatively small air valves connected with the com- 0 pressed air line through the medium of a manifold. By this construction comparatively small air valves can be utilized to admit and exhaust suflicient air to lift a heavy load 'of oll or other liquid.

My invention is illustrated in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a well casingfwith the pump assemblies in elevation. In actual practice, however, each pump assembly may be much longer in its relation to its diameter and the diameter of the casing and the oil pipe. y y

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 8 of a form of pump suitable for a small diameter well casing. In thisl instance the pump barrel is the same or substantially the same diameter as the oil pipe through which the oil is pumped upwardly.

Fig. 3 is a verticalsection taken substantially on the section lines 3-3 of Figs. 4, 5, and 6 showing a construction of pump suitable for the upper stages in pumping where the well casing is of larger diameter and the pump barrel of greater 4 diameter than the oil pipe. 5

of Fig. 2 looking downwardly in the direction of the arrows on the same scale as Fig. 2.

Fig. 9 is a detail perspective partly broken.

away of one of the air control valves.

Referring first to Fig. l, the oil well casing indicated by the numeral has a lower section I2 with the perforations I3 for the inflow of oil or other liquid, this being at the bottom of the well and is usually of much smaller diameterthan for instance, an upper vsection I4. Therefore when pumping is done in stages it is usually impractical to have a large-diameter pump at the bottom oi a well. The lowermost pump is indicated by the numeral |5 and is shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 8, using however the valve construction of Fig. 9. An upper or larger diameter pump is indicated by the numeral I8 and illustrated particularly in Figs. 3 through 'l having the valve of Fig. 9.

The upper type of pump is constructed substantially as follows, having reference particularly to Figs. 3 through 7 and 9. An outer cyl-v inder or case 28 encloses the cylindrical motor barrel 2| which barrel has a lower head 22 and an upper head 23, preferably connected thereto by a threaded connection. The motor plunger or piston 24 is slidably mounted in the barrel and has a central rod 25 which extends downwardly through a guide opening 26 in the lower head 22. A'piston rod 21 also connected to the plunger 24 extends upwardly through a guide opening 28 in the upper head 23.@ To this upper head is connected an oil pump cylinder 28 having the oil pumping piston 38.mountedon. the upper end of the piston rod and working in this cylinder. The upper or smallv diameter string of oil pipe 3| connects to the oil pump cylinder 28 and extends upwardly in the well. I 4 p The lower end of the cylindrical case 28 is provided with an end head 35 with a guide opening 36 for the rod 25 and perforations 35'. This is preferably screw threaded into the lower end of the cylinder. This cylinder 20 terminates at the bottom in a reduction head 31 having va ilange 38 v to which the lower string of oil tubing 38 is connected, this leading upwardly from the lower pump I5. Thus there is an oil chamber 48 provided below the head 35 and havingoil flow openings 4|. An annular packer 42 of any suitable type seals off the lower portion ofthe pump I6 with the well casing, the packer being below the openings or perforations 4| to allow upflow of oil into an upper annular oil chamber 43 between the cylindrical case 28 of the pump I6 and the well casing.

A series of small oil reaction cylinders 58, these being shown as three in number as indicated in.

Fig. 6, extend downwardly in the annular space 5I between the casing cylinder 28 and the motor barrel 2|.' 'I'hese preferably have a snug t and by means of welded iillets 52 properly center and retain the motor cylinder mounted in a concentric and fixed position in reference to'. the cylinder case 28. In each of these small pipes or cylinders there is mounted a piston 53 with a downwardly extending4 piston rod 54, this being connected to a cross-head 55. The cross head is shown in Figs. 4 and 5 as a series of radial arms 56 leading from a central hub 51 through which hub the rod 25 passes, the hub being rigidly secured to the rod. The cross-head is shown as having three long arms secured to the rods 54. A circular oil manifold 58 is located above the upper head 23 and supplied by oil by a small bore oil pipe 58 extending upwardly along the oil cylinder v28 and being connected as indicated at 68 to the upper part of the cylinder 28 above the ilap check valve 6I, this being pivoted at 62. A radial oil lead pipe l63 extends from the manifold to the upper end of each of the small bore pipes 5,8 (note Figs. 3 and 7). 'I'he inlet for oil to the oil pump is through the inlet elbow pipe 64 (note Fig. 3), this having a check valve 65 therein, such valve being operative for inow of oil from the oil chamber 43 surrounding the pump to the oil cylinder- 29 but preventing outow on the up stroke. The small oil vent 66 is provided in the head 23 for inflow and ejection of oil above the plunger 24 during the reciprocating motion of this plunger under the action of compressed air.

The air supply and control assembly designated by the numeral 15 includes a plurality of individual air valves 16, th ee of these being illustrated, the details bein presented in Figs. 3,'4, 5 and 9. Each valve has 'a cylindrical valve casing 1.1 extending downwardly from the lower head 22 which head has an inlet port 18 and an outlet port 19, these being arranged concentric with the axis of the rotary cylindrical valve plug 88. Such plug has right angular inlet air passage 8| and a longitudinal outlet air passage 82 (note particularly Figs. 3 and 9), the inlet` passage being of larger diameter than the outlet passage. Air is supplied through a circular air manifold 83 located below the head 22 and connected to openings 84 through the valve casing 11. A vertical air compressed pipe has a. connectionto the manifold 83 and passes upwardly in the annular space 5| between the cylindrical case 28, and the motor barrel 2|, this having an upward lead L86 with couplings 81 following upwardly on the oilv pipe string to the top of the well where such pipe is connected to a suitableair compressor or a controlled storage tank of compressed air.

'I'he actuating mechanism for the valves designated by the assembly numeral 88 employs tubes 8|, each connected at its upper end to a valve plug 88, the outlet passage 82 discharging downwardly through the pipe 8|. Each pipe has a reduced journal end 82 connected to its lower end, this having a bearing 83 in the head 35 adjacent the lower end of the cylindrical case 28, there being a central air discharge perforation 84 through the head 35 and the journal end 82.

The pipe. 8| is provided with an upper radially projecting pin-85 and a lower radially projecting pin 86, these being at 88 degrees to each other. The cross head carries three cams, each indicated by the numeral and secured to the cross head hub 51 by short arms |8| (note Figs. 3, 4 and 5). -Each of these cams has an upwardly sloping face |82 and a lower sloping face |83 so that on the. upward movement of the cross-head 55 l'when the pump plunger 24 moves up, the face |82 engages the upper pin 85 and causes a rotation of the valve plug in one direction. Likewise when the cross-head moves downwardly due to its rigid attachment to the rod 25 and the lower face |83 engages the pin 86, the tube 8| and the valve plug 88 is rotated in the opposite direction.

It will be apparent that instead of having the cylindrical case 28 and the motor." barrel 2| formed as two separate elements with an annular space 5| therebetween, these can be made integral with longitudinal bores forming a provision for the small reaction cylinders 50 and for the compressed air duct 85, as it is not really essential that therebe an annular space such as Also,

in some cases where there is sufficient diameter in the well casing to have relatively large valves, one air valve may be utilized instead of a plurality of smaller valves. Also in some cases instead of having the reaction pistons 53 to effect the' positive downward movement of the crosshead and'hence of the cams |00, the weight of the plunger 24 or weights attached to the rod 25 may be suflicient for this purpose. It will be noted that the small pistons 53 are always subject to the hydraulic head due to the weight of oil or other liquid above the flap valve 8| to the upper end of the particular length of oil pipe 3|'.

The manner of operation and functioning of the pump assembly designated as l0 and illustrated particularly in Figs. 3 to '7 and 9, is substantially as follows: Presuming the plunger 24 is at the bottom of its stroke adjacent the lower head 22 of the motor barrel, then the cross head 55 is at the lower part of its stroke and the lower face |03 of the cam |00 engages the pin 96 of the tube 9|, thus rotating and positioning the valve plug 80 to align the inlet passage 8| with the air openings 84 to the manifold to allow compressed air to enter through the inlet port 18 in the head 22, this compressed air as above mentioned, .being fed downwardly through the air pipe 86 and 85 and the manifold 83. As the piston rod 21 is carried downwardly by the plunger 24, the oil piston 30 is likewise lowered causing an inflow of oil from the annular space between the well casing and the pump through the inlet 64 having the check valve 65. In this action the downflow of oil retained in the upper part of the cylinder and the oil pipe 3| is prevented by the flap valve 6|. The compressed air below the plunger 24 gives an upward stroke to its plunger, which' it will be noted, is of very much larger area than the oil piston 30. This creates a lift of the oil in the oil pump cylinder 29 closing the check valve and opening the flap valve 6I for upflow of oil in the oil pipe 3|. At the same time the rod 25 carries the cross head 55 upwardly elevating the cams |00 and also by means of the rods 5,4, thrusting the small pistons 53 upwardly.

-Any oil which has entered through the vent 66 above the plunger 24 in the motor barrel is expelled through this vent. When the upper sloping surface |02 ofthe cam |00 engages the upper pin 95 o'n the tube 9| it rotates the pin and the tube and hence the valve plug 80 one-quarter turn, thus dis-aligning the intake passage 8| with the intake port 19 and bringing the outlet air passage ,82' in the plug into alignment with the outletl port 19. This releases the air pressure in the motor barrel below the plunger 24 allowing this to descend. As the small pistons 53 are al- Ways subject to the hydraulic head of the oil in the manifold 58, the small bore pipe 59 and the `oil string 3|', these pistons are positively forced downwardly when there is no air pressure to cause their elevation. Thus even if there is a resistance to the outflow of. air from below the plunger24, the cross-head 55 positively exerts a downward pull on the rod 25 and henceiorrthe plunger. The first action of the downward movement of the piston 30 is to cause a closing of ap -valve 6|, thus trapping the oil above such valve. However as above described, in certain cases the small pistons 53 with the rods 54, the oil duct 59 andthe manifold 58, may be discarded. The exhaust air as above described as passing through the outlet passage 82 ows downwardly throughl the pipe 9|, the discharge perforation 94, into the oil chamber 40 and hence outwardly through the oil flow openings' 4| or the perforations 35 and thus mingles with the oil connedin the well casing flowing upwardly through this oil and eventually being discharged from the top of the well. It will be apparent that the motor-barrel and the length of stroke provided for the cross-head 55 may be as long as desired to give a considerable lift at each stroke to' a comparatively small volume of oil, the volume being regulated by the dlameter of the oil cylinder 29 and the length of the stroke of the oil piston 30. Inthis arrangement the air is always under constant compresi sion in the air pipes 86 and 35, supplying air to main feature's is the same as the pump I5 above described. An elongated cylindrical case |25 has a lower perforated head |26 with perforations |21 and a central guide opening |28, which head may be threaded intothe lower end of this cylinder concentrically mounted in the case as a corn-` bination compressed air and oil lift cylinder |30, the lower end |3| of which is4 provided for the compressed air and the upper portion I 3| for the oil to be lifted. A combination air plunger and oil piston |32 is mounted in the cylinder |30 and has a rod |33 extending downwardly through a guide opening |34 in the lower head |35 of the cylinder |30. This rod extends downwardly through the guide opening |28. There are small bore tubes tween the case |25 and cylinder |30 and having the function of the reaction cylinders 50, each being provided with a plunger |31 and a rod |38 extending downwardly and connected to a crosshead |39. This cross head is similar to the cross head 55 and secured to the rod |33.` IThe crosshead is provided with cams |00 and operates the same type of valve indicated at 15 as shown in connection with the pump of Fig. 3. In this case |4| in the lower head |26, the exhaust air being discharged downwardly through these pipes |40.

It will be noted in the construction of the valve of Figs. 2 and 8 that the cylinderv|3g0 is of the same diameter as the oil tubing 39 through which the oil is vpumped upwardly. An oil inlet |42 having a check valve is provided and located below the pivoted flap valve |43. A small bore oil duct |44 connects to the cylinder |30 on the oil tubing 39 above the l'lap valve |43 and connects to an annular manifold |45 (note (Fig. 8), this having connections |46`to each. of the small oil cylinders |36. The compressed air is brought downwardly by a compressed air pipe |41 which leads through the annular space between the case |25 and the I5 for use in they |36 forming oil cylinders located behowever, the tubes |40 extend downwardly from the Valve plug having a perforated lower bearing cylinder |30 and leads to a manifold |48 located l spirit or scope oi' the invention as defined by the 'individual pump is substantially the same as the pump of Fig. 3, except in this case the area oi' the plunger |32 on which the air operates is slightly less than the upper area lifting the column of oil. On account of this lower pump being designed for use in the lower contracted end of the well casing 'where the oil ilows in through the perforated casingvfrom the oil sand, it is desirable that this type of pump have a greater lift than the pump of Fig. 3.

'Ihe operation 'of an assembly of pumps for lifting the oil in stages is as follows, having reference particularly to Fig. 1: The pump I5 is operated by its own air line and lifts the oil through the lower string of oil tubing 39 which is connected as shown in Fig. 3 to the lower end of the cylindrical case 2q of the larger pump I6 next thereabove. The oil is discharged into the oil chamber 40 and ilows `outwardly through the ports or perforations Il in the cylinder 20 (note Fig. 3) into the annular chamber 43 deiined by the packer 42, the upper section Il of the well casing and the cylindrical case 20, the oil being always maintained at a level A well above the oil intake 64. Therefore the upper pump I6 operating on its own air system gives the oil a lift in the second stage upwardly through the string of oil pipe 3|. This in its turn may be connected to a similar pump much in the same manner as the oil tubing 39 is connectedto the pipe i6. Thus by having a series of pumps which may increase in size as desired as the well casing increases in diameter towards the top of the well, the oil may be pumped in succeeding stages from the bottom to the top of the well for discharge in the usual manner. In order to economize on the size of the air compressor plant, this may be arranged -to form a connection to the various air supply lines for the dierent pumps in a sequence so that one pump actuates on its lift at a time and it is not necessary to supply at one time enough air to operate all of the pumps simultaneously. It will be apparent however, if desired, that all of the pumps may be connected to the same air line, in which case it will be only necessary to run one line of air pipe from the surface to the ground to the lowermost pump, this being tapped off to the manifolds of the various pumps used in the stages above the lowermost.

Various changes may be made in the details ofthe construction without departing from ,the

appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a deep well pump, the combination o1' an outer case structure, a combined air and liquid cylinder havi-ng a plunger therein with a rod connected to the plunger, aA liquid tube connected to the upper end of the liquid cylinder and having a check valve with an inlet therebelow, a valve for the air cylinder, a compressed air connection from the top of the well to the said valve, a valve operating means having a movable element connected to the said rod, with valve rotating elements operatively positioned to be engaged thereby, the valve having an inlet and an exhausty passage for air, a." means to positively move the plunger downwardly comprising a small bore cylinder having a small piston -therein with an Operative means l i 2,184,465 struction there is a separate air pille supply to connecting said small piston andthe rod connected to the plunger and a liquid connection from theV small bore cylinder above its piston to the liquid in the liquid tube. f

2. In a deep well pump in which a well bore is provided with a well casing, a gas motor fitted in the casing, a liquid pump connected thereto. a gas supply pipe for the motor and a liquid pipe connecting from said pump upwardly in the well,the motor having a movable element combined with a return mechanism for the moving element of the motor having a liquid pressure connection to the liquid in thel said liquid pipe to positively return the moving element of the pump to its initial position.

3. In a deep well pump in which a well bore is provided with a well casing, a gas motor having a reciprocating piston and ailiquid pump also having a reciprocating piston, the pistons being connected, al gas supply pipe for the motor leading upwardly in the well, a liquid discharge pipe from the pump extending upwardly in the well combined with aireturn mechanismv for the piston of theA pump having a liquid connection to the liquid in the liquid pipe constructed and adapted to maintain a liquid pressure due to the head 'of liquid in the pipe with means urging the motor piston downwardly, the presvsure of the gas being adapted to overcome the downward u'rge on the pumping stroke of the motor and the pump.

4 In a deep well pump as claimed in claim 3, the liquid return mechanism including one or more small bore cyinders each with a piston therein with a liquid connection from the cylinder or cylinders to the discharge liquid pipe together with means connecting the small piston or pistons to the piston of the gas motor.

.5. In a deep wellpump, the combination of a cylindrical case having a irst cylinder for air mounted concentrically therein, said cylinder having av lowe'r head with a guide opening, the said case having a lower head with a `second guide opening, a plunger mounted in the iirst cylinder and having-aroad extending through the guide openings in the head of the cylinder and the lower head of the case, the lower head )of the cylinder having inlet and exhaust ports, a valve having a rotary plug with inlet and exhaust passages, a compressed air connection from the said valve to the top of the well, a reciprocating actuating means for the valve connected to the said road and a valve moving device connected to the valve plug to be engaged by the said actuating means to operate the said valve to align the said passage respectively with the said ports, and a liquid cylinder connected to the first cylinder having the valve, said liquid cylinder having a piston connected to the plunger, a liquid tube extending Iupwardly from the liquid cylinder and having a check valve therein and an intake for liquid with a second check valve below the rst check valve, the rod having a cross-head connected thereto, a small bore cyl-v inder positioned between the case and the first cylinder and having a small piston therein with a piston rod connected to the said cross-head, a liquid connection from thef upper end of the small cylinder above its piston to the liquid tube above the check valve ot said tube whereby the small piston is always subject to the hydraulic head of the liquid contained in the said liquid 6. In a deep well pump, an air motor cylinder having a head at the bottom with a guide opening therethrough, a plurality of air valves mounted on the lower head and having inlet and exhaustv passages, an air manifold having a connection to the inlet passages, a compressed air connection from the manifold to the upper part of the well, a motor pump plunger in the cylinder having a rod extending downwardly through the guide opening in the head, a valve actuating means having a portion thereof secured to said rod to reciprocate therewith to actuate the valves simultaneously from an inlet to an exhaust position, a liquid pump having a cylinder connected to the cylinder of the air motor with a piston connected to the plunger, a liquid inlet above the piston, a check valve above the inlet and a liquid tube extending upwardly from the liquid pump cylinder, the valve actuating means including a' cross-head, a plurality of small liquid cylinders connected to the air pump cylinder and each having a small piston, secondary piston rods between each small piston and cross-head, a liquid manifold vconnected to the upper end of each of the small cylinders, a liquid connection from Vsaid manifold to the liquid pump cylinder above the check valve of said cylinder whereby the small pistons are always subjectto the hydraulic head of the liquid in the liquid tube.

7. In a deep well pump acompressed gas motor and an oil pump connected together, the motor having a cylinder with a piston operating therein and the pump having a cylinder with a pump piston operating therein, the said pistons being connected together, an oil inlet to the oil pump above the level of the uppermost travel of the pump piston, a valve connected to the lower end of the motor cylinder, a conduit for compressed gas extending downwardly and connected to the valve, a cross-head connected to the piston of the motor, a cam on said cross-head and an interacting means between the cam and the valve to rotate the valve, such valve having an exhaust opening communicating with the well, a small bore cylinder positioned adjacent the motor cylinder having a small piston therein, an oil connection from the upper end of the cylinder to a position above a check valve of the oil pump to always maintain an oil pressure on the piston of the small cylinder-and a rod connecting the small piston with a cross-head whereby the small piston and said rod always exerts a downward movement in the cross-head and hence on the motor piston.

- JAMES E. LACY. 

